The field of invention is protective covers for shoes or footwear, and more particularly bicycle shoes such as those used in competitive bicycle racing and the practice thereof.
Currently, most avid cyclists wear cycling shoes with cleats attached to the bottom of the shoes, which allow firm and secure contact with cycling pedals. Prior art shoe covers are intended to keep the feet of the cyclist dry in inclement weather, or when splashes from puddles and mud may hit the cyclist. Such shoe covers protect a portion of the shoe to some extent, but do not really keep the cyclist's feet dry. Further, such prior art or current cycling shoe covers are typically made from sheets of foamed and elastic fabric covered or filled NEOPRENE® brand rubber or LYCRA® or “Spandex” brand fabric materials, which are heavy or can lose water resistance after prolonged exposure to rain and snow. Most of these shoe covers are designed to slip over the shoe from below, a “bottom-up” installation process, and are secured with a zipper or VELCRO® brand hook and loop fasteners along a seam at the back or side of the foot and ankle. These covers are made by the attachment of multiple precut fabric pieces, which creates multiples seams, allowing water to egress through the seams.
The third and most important weakness of the bottom-up design is that the seal around the ankle cannot be made sufficiently snug to prevent substantial water egress from above. The fourth weakness is that the bottom-up design is costly to produce, because of the materials, the attachment of multiple precut pieces of these materials to each other, and the formation of these seams and, as well as the attachment of stays or fasteners.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a new and improved cycling shoe cover that overcomes the above deficiencies of the prior art.
It is a further object to provide such a shoe cover that can be made at significantly reduced costs.
The above and other objects, effects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.